Some health tools is price your cash; others are gimmicks that ought to keep on the shelf. It’s not all the time straightforward to know which is which. For instance, at first look, the Sanddune Energy Stepper is a squishy platform that, for $280 a pop, leaves you questioning why you possibly can’t simply run and soar on flat floor.
After all, you possibly can, however as Muscle & Health’ Zack Zeigler and Frank Sepe lately realized whereas touring The Energy Membership (situated in New York, NY), the Sanddune is a power coach-approved software for decreasing joint influence and bolstering stability. And that, of us, is why M&F’s Gymnasium Excursions collection exists—to find out about new coaching instruments that we (and also you) would miss out on in any other case. Hold studying for extra concerning the Sanddune.
What’s it?
The Sanddune Energy Stepper is a foam field that mimics the texture of transferring on sand. It options two particular person platforms, so your ft and palms work independently of each other. Each platforms are additionally barely angled to put your palms or ft on a decline or incline.
You may run, soar, and push off of the Sanddune, which supplies extra cushion to your joints whereas additionally difficult your stability. It’s usually used as a warm-up and conditioning software. Frequent actions on the Sanddune embrace excessive knees, strolling in place, vertical jumps, and push-ups.
What We Like
- The Sanddune is joint-friendly. It mimics a sandy floor, coaching on which has been proven to scale back muscle soreness and stress. A examine printed within the Journal of Human Kinetics in contrast the outcomes of seashore handball gamers, half underwent regular preseason coaching; the opposite half added plyometrics carried out on the sand to their protocol. Within the textual content, the researchers write, “A sand floor is related to a better diploma of shock absorption and decrease stress to gentle tissue and bones on the decrease limbs throughout plyometric train.” (1)
- It’s warm-up and conditioning software. The Sanddune’s inherent instability supplies advantages to your conditioning and warm-ups which can be laborious to duplicate on steady floor. For one, the stabilizing muscle groups surrounding your ankles, knees, wrists, and shoulders will hearth persistently whereas utilizing the Sanddune. Consequently, your muscle groups ought to develop into extra steady over time. You’ll additionally enhance your means to stability and produce extra power.
- It has a small footprint. The Sanddune is 26” huge, 22” lengthy, and weighs 12.5 kilos, so it doesn’t take up a lot house in your health club. Whereas it gained’t match comfortably in your bag, you possibly can simply toss the Sanddune in your automobile and haul it into your native health club.
What to Take into account
- It prices $280. That’s a fairly steep value to pay for a chunk of kit that we’d hardly name important. Take into account the Sanddune a nice-to-have, assuming you already personal free weights, a rack, and a weight bench.
Its purposes are comparatively restricted. You’ll get probably the most mileage out of the Sanddune leaping, squatting, and working on high of it. That’s about it, which is ok if you happen to routinely carry out plyometric exercises. There are a couple of different makes use of for the Sanddune, however they aren’t frequent data. For instance, you should use it as a knee pad for Nordic curls or lay on it for dumbbell pullovers. By itself, the Sanddune is an adjunct, so take into consideration the way you prepare and the way typically you’ll use it earlier than clicking “purchase now.”
